Posted on 12/02/2001 6:56:41 PM PST by Enlightiator
The Time article:
What wrong with "It"? Well, first, nothing is said about its weight. If one were to ride this to work, or to the store, one would need to store it safely somewhere upon arrival. Where would that be? Does one tie it up to a parking meter (like the cowboy tying up horse to a post in front of a saloon? One must have a place to keep the vehicle when not in use at every destination. Having to carrying it up three floors to the loft office is not a happy thought.
Second: one cannot carry much gear or groceries around on this scooter?
Third: one using this device is exposed to rainy weather, cold weather, and the hazards of ice and snow.
Fourth: what does one do if the gyro device breaks down in the middle of forward motion - fall forward?
Fifth: how many people can stand for a long period of time without buckling at the knees. Try standing straight for an hour or two to test this problem.
Now all of this is not to say that there might not be trememdous applications for "It" - but those applications will not be to replace the automobile or to eliminate 'urban congestion' or to halt 'urban sprawl'.
Light rail is also a helluva good idea except for 1) Commuter parking facilities are cost prohibitive; 2) Cost per mile prohibitive; 3) Unable to operate at a profit, requiring heavy governmental subsidies. At 17 miles per hour, "It", like light rail, is going now where without heavy government sponsorship. And even then, "It" is going no where but to novelty land.
It looks like extreme creativity runs in the family!! I only read about this tonight. It sounds, from the few articles I read, like father and son get along well.
Just gotta work it by office management. Hide IT Under your desk.
The Segway may be more popular in Europe first, where gasoline is more expensive.
I'm still not sold on it's practicality though. The first thing I wonder is how it goes up and down hills. One can only wonder what happens to the Segway after cresting a steep hill.
And while it needs outside power for the balancing mechanism, apparently it changes some of the potential energy of a fall forward into kinetic energy..i.e., motion.
Wouldn't that imply the same principle could be applied to a stationary device to possibly generate power, close to a perpetual motion machine, with frictional losses being the limiting factor.
Of course in Segway a human reaction/reflex is part of the circuit, and aparently some potential energy is derived from that relationship. In other words you can't hang a weight at the end of a string and expect it to produce power/motion.
If you could, why not replace the weight with a spring or small, efficient engine to produce the input, then let Segway's gyro's crank generators.
All in all it looks like a clever device, something useful in a controlled environment like a factory, but NOT something that's going to be running around city streets. Could you imagine a bunch of skateboard dudes flying along on these things through a crowd?
In fact persopnally, as a skateboarder from back in the early 60's I'd rather hang ten.
prisoner6
It's a niche item, doomed to a limited, short term market by the 3k price tag, and the need to recoup 100 million in development.
Who is going to pay 3k for something that goes 17mph, when you can go faster on a $75 bike from Wal-Mart, or a razor scooter for under $100, and it's healthier anyway. What about inclement weather and winter? Does it come with a $500 option for the heater from an 88 Goldwing and an authentic replica of the bubble off the pope-mobile? Or do you get free electric socks and a poncho for 3k? How do you haul kids, groceries, etc. around? Does it come with a Radio Flyer trailer to pull behind?
If I had to guess, I'd say this thing fizzles, and the battery technology get ported to other applications. I can't see anybody in the consumer market buying these with the exception of bored rich people. Even old people would rather have a sit down scooter I'm sure.
Cities built around it? Please...
I agree especially considering the possibilites. The little go cart thingess at food chains etc for disabled folx to be mobile, and the elderly, those things cost the same. Think of a brilliant parapalegic and what the 'mental' Ginger would do for them! I don't understand the funmaking of this product, won't the environmentalists love it...naw maybe not considering you have to have a working mind & creative visualization concentration.
Regards,
Ginger actually doesn't work by reading peoples' minds.
Paging Joan Claybrook and Ralph Nader...Call for Ms Claybrook and Mr. Nadir.
prisoner6
Me too.
Me three, getting around at this age sonny, I need all the Segwig's I can get ;)
Seriously Hal, what about the possibilities for our military?
Or how about this....
It won't work for guys like you, because the only thought or use you can think of is deflammatory? You wouldn't get far on it woulda fella?
What about the millions of people who can't walk more than a few steps (think substitute for walkers).
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